Paul Simon’s only gone and released his first UK No 1 album for a quarter of a century

Paul Simon receives high recognition for his greatest hits compilation, with the LP hitting No 1 in the UK charts

t’s been 25 long years since Paul Simon’s last UK No 1 album. No, make that it was 25 years, because his greatest hits compilation album The Ultimate Collection is this week’s highest seller in the Official UK Albums Chart. The release has been put out to coincide with Simon’s upcoming UK tour with Sing and is the former Simon & Garfunkel member’s first UK No 1 album since 1990’s The Rhythm Of The Saints.

The remainder of the Top 5 sees James Bay’s Chaos And The Calm just below Paul Simon, while 2014’s best songwriter Ed Sheeran sees his album X sandwiched in-between Bay and Sam Smith’s In The Lonely. The Wombats complete the Top 5 with their album Glitterbug.

Among the new entries to this week’s Top 50 are Beth Hart, whose Better Than Home is in at No 33, Ireland’s answer to Bright Eyes, Villagers make the Top 30 with their third album Darling Arithmetic at No 27, and Tyler The Creator, whose Cherry Bomb makes it to No 16.